Lament
|
SPOILER WARNING: This section may contain major plot and/or ending details. Proceed at your own discretion. |
|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“
|
We're connected, you and I, in a terrible circuit of lament.
|
„
|
— Lament talking to Godzilla (Godzilla #1 second printing cover) |
Lament, originally the scientist Dr. Braid, is a formerly-human kaiju who appears in the 2025 IDW Publishing comic series Godzilla, debuting on the final page of the first issue.
While investigating the origins of the mysterious new Kai-Sei-absorbing kaiju dubbed Yacumama, G-Force USA discovered their place of origin to be a massive underground laboratory where they came face-to-face with the talking kaiju Lament, revealed to be the creator of the Yacumama. The group's leader, Riviera, quickly struck an alliance with Lament over their mutual desire to see Godzilla fall, much to the concern of the rest of his unit, who remained hesitant to work with a literal kaiju. Following the arrival of Godzilla, the team was forced to reevaluate their objectives and loyalties, ultimately deciding to help Godzilla instead of Lament against Riviera's orders. However, this temporary alliance between Godzilla and G-Force USA was shattered by the reveal of Lament's identity as the mother of their latest recruit, Jacen Braid—a revelation that would determine the fate of Godzilla.
Name
The word "lament" means an intense expression of grief and suffering. Lament utters the word in dialogue in both Godzilla #1 and #2, though it isn't until issue #5 that the word was specified to be her name in-universe.
Development
Lament was first teased in a trailer for Godzilla.[1] The kaiju was formally revealed in an article on the official Godzilla website two days prior to the release of the first issue.[2]
Series editor Jake Williams described the character as a means to "bridge the gap" between the worlds of humans and kaiju, able to communicate intelligently with humans or battle towering kaiju in equal measure.[3]
Design
Lament is a tall humanoid kaiju covered in spiky greyish armor. Her main body is black and resembled charred human skin, while she has large chunks of bony armor protecting parts of her arms, legs, pelvis, and waist; her limb armor is the same color as her flesh. Her fingers are tipped in large grey claws. The tips of her neural spines protrude from her skin, growing especially long and sharp on her tail. The armor on Lament's limbs and lower body converges on her chest in a pentagon-like outline that merges with a much larger, thicker, cowl-like sheet of armor over her shoulders which is covered in spikes. Lament's neck and armored head protrudes from her shoulder armor, and all of her skin below her upper gum line is reddish exposed flesh. She has no lips, rotting cheeks, and grey humanoid teeth. Above Lament's mouth, her head is protected by a vaguely diamond-shaped bony chunk that extends along head, tapers into a blade at the top, and protrudes at the sides. Her head armor also protrudes vaguely like a nose on her face. A second, smaller spike curves from the back of Lament's skull. Lament's yellowish-green eyes sit in two dark sockets sunken into her head, each with a short rounded slit that cuts out a tiny chunk of her armor; concept art and the cover of Godzilla #6 depict her with red eyes.
When Dr. Rumi Chiba forced Lament into a flashback just after her transformation, her body was less spiky and armored, while her flesh was deep red. Lament also appears to have been smaller and adorned in torn lab clothing.
Origins
As a scientist, Dr. Braid led an experiment in a facility on the outskirts of the Deadzone in which they sought to concentrate residual Kai-Sei energy in the hopes of harnessing its natural regenerative abilities to heal the sick and cure cancer, which proved to be of particular interest to the terminally-ill Dr. Braid. However, Godzilla detected the use of Kai-Sei for this experiment and traveled to the facility using Anguirus's underground tunnels. Godzilla proceeded to destroy the facility, killing most of the scientists. As Dr. Braid lied dying, she claims to have heard a voice offering her the chance to survive, telling her that she would grow and become something else entirely. In agreeing to serve this voice, Dr. Braid was transmogrified into the kaiju Lament, now given a second chance at life at the cost of her humanity. In this new form, she abandoned her son, Jacen Braid, to pursue her vendetta against the King of the Monsters.
History
- Godzilla #1–2, 4–8 (2025–2026) [mentioned in #7–8]
Godzilla
Godzilla #1
As a swarm of Yacumama attacked new G-Force USA recruit Jacen Braid underwater off the coast of Florida, Lament watched the boy struggle on an array of monitors. The kaiju waxed philosophically about how everyone, human and kaiju alike, are trapped in a cycle of lament and despair.
Godzilla #2
Watching G-Force USA battle a giant Yacumama aboard a cargo ship on their monitors, Lament took note of Captain Carroñero naming the monster. She deemed the name fitting, even if she wished she could have named her offspring herself. She described herself as a black sheep among kaiju, bent on destroying the Earth rather than avenging it. She reached into a tower full of bubbling green liquid and grabbed a handful of smaller Yacumama.
Godzilla #4
With G-Force USA's science division having determined that the Yacumama had been created at the Upshot–Knothole Test Site in Nevada, Captain Riviera, Nuki, and Incense ventured to the site and infiltrated a secret underground facility. They soon came across a massive makeshift laboratory before detecting a giant kaiju approaching from behind. As they turned to attack, Lament swatted Nuki and Incense away before grabbing Riviera, who was stunned to learn that the kaiju was capable of speech. Lament proceeded to identify Riviera by name, already aware of who they were and why they had come as she showed Riviera a vat of Yacumama. Riviera quickly struck an alliance with Lament and even helped the monster with her equipment, though Nuki and Incense expressed their reservations at working with a kaiju. Prompted by Riviera, Lament cryptically alluded to her storied origins, detailing that she had been "more than one thing" who felt she had no connection to anything in this world anymore beyond a single goal: to kill Godzilla. Soon after, the rest of G-Force USA's field team and Godzilla itself entered the lab through a underwater tunnel, at which point Jet Jaguar, perceiving Lament to be a threat, delivered a flying double kick, sending her flying across the room. However, Riviera ordered the team to stand down as a massive Yacumama from Lament's lab lunged at the King of the Monsters.
Godzilla #5
Dr. Rumi Chiba questioned Riviera's alliance with a kaiju. Chiba then experienced an intense psychic episode in which she learned of Lament's origins in a catastrophic experiment where scientists attempted and failed to contain and exploit the Earth's natural Kai-Sei energies, giving rise to Lament, who she described as the "Anti-Kai Sei". Lament rejected this claim, arguing that Chiba had been compromised by Godzilla and that she was merely trying to take power away from Godzilla and give it back to humanity. Despite Riviera's efforts to goad Braid into attacking the weakened Godzilla, Braid sided with Chiba and atttacked Lament instead, punching her away with a blast of Kai-Sei energy.
G-Force USA subsequently defied Riviera's orders and helped Godzilla escape the Yacumama, taking the fight deeper in the tunnel system. The team formed a temporary alliance with Godzilla in order to destroy all of the Yacumama, only to be confronted by Lament, whose taunts over knowing Braid's past piqued Riviera's interest. Lament went on to detail her own origins as the formerly-human head of the disastrous Kai-Sei experiment Chiba spoke of that took place on the edge of the Deadzone. She explained that the Kai-Sei experiment that created her only had noble intentions, hoping to harness Kai-Sei's regenerative abilities to heal the sick and even cure cancer, as she herself was dying from terminal cancer. However, Godzilla detected this experiment and destroyed the facility in an act Lament framed as Godzilla's unwillingness to share its Kai-Sei power with humanity. As she lied dying in the ruins of the facility, Lament described hearing a voice offer her a chance to survive if she served this voice, to which she agreed if it meant having the opportunity to see her son once again. Lament proceeded to identify herself as Braid's mother, Dr. Braid, horribly deformed and changed by the accident Godzilla caused, enraging Braid into violently attacking Godzilla, taking their fight to the surface.
Godzilla #6
While Braid battled Godzilla, Jet Jaguar brought the rest of the team to the surface, and they found themselves in Las Vegas. As the team prepared to help save the city and expressed hope that they could reason with Braid to cease his destructive battle, Lament burst from the ground and confronted the team, believing Braid would carry out her wishes to kill Godzilla. Nuki attacked first and severed one of Lament's arms clean off in her assault, only for Lament to simply regenerate the appendage in seconds, now in the shape of a giant blade. The team concentrated their firepower against Lament, though they were unable to leave any lasting damage as Lament simply healed from every attack, claiming that she was "death personified" and could not be killed. As Lament attempted to kill Riviera with her bladed appendage after swatting Nuki and Incense away, Chiba leapt onto her head and used her psychic powers to torment Lament, forcing her to relive the experiment that birthed her current form. In Lament's mind, Chiba reminded her that following Godzilla's attack, she had every opportunity to reunite with her son, who was only a short distance away at the time and had been crying out to her after witnessing the destruction of the facility. Lament, however, chose to abandon her child in pursuit of her own vendetta against Godzilla, condemning the young Braid to a life of loneliness and grief as he believed he had lost all of his family. Chiba forced Lament to feel the pain and loss that Braid had felt, leaving Lament reeling as Chiba withdrew and the rest of G-Force moved in to attack.
Just as Godzilla's body began to deteriorate in its battle against Braid, a recovered Lament abruptly sprouted wings from her back, cryptically warning that Godzilla was about to undergo the same catastrophic evolution that birthed both her and the Deadzone. She then flew off in retreat shortly before Godzilla's Kai-Sei lifeforce merged into Braid's body.
Abilities
Intelligence
Being a former human scientist, Lament is entirely sapient and highly intelligent, enabling her to strategize. She placed Strontium-90 into Yacumama, a species of kaiju she engineered, from the Upshot–Knothole Test Site to lure G-Force USA to her lair, and waited to reveal herself as Jacen Braid's mother until the most opportune moment to turn him against Godzilla.
Prior to her transformation into Lament, Dr. Braid was researching the potential for Kai-Sei energy to cure cancer and heal ailments.
Speech
Unique among kaiju, Lament is capable of speech. She uses this to her advantage, both as a shock factor against G-Force upon discovering her as well as to establish an alliance and co-ordinate with with G-Force Commander Riviera. Once the tides began to turn against Lament, she repeatedly insulted G-Force and tried to manipulate the team into fighting themselves, including labelling Dr. Rumi Chiba a tool of Godzilla, calling Riviera a small man who controls G-Force, and successfully sending Braid into a blind rage after Lament revealed that she is his mother.
Technopathy
Lament is technopathic, able to manipulate technology to her will. She acquired massive amounts of much smaller computers, lights, wiring, doors, and other devices for her laboratory and made them functional in spite of her massive size. Lament can also speak through electronics, project images on their screens, and see through them as if they were her own eyes.
Regeneration
After having her right arm shot off by Nuki, Lament immediately regrew the appendage into a large bone sword. Incense commented that Lament healed as fast as he was able to burn her.
Body alteration
Lament is able to alter her body seemingly at will, including replacing her right arm with a sword and sprouting wings capable of flight.
Physical abilities
Lament repeatedly swiped at G-Force's members with her arms and tail during their confrontations. After replacing her arm with a sword, she attempted to slice Riviera in half.
Durability
Lament repeatedly endured attacks from G-Force members Nuki, Incense, and Riviera.
Flight
After sprouting bone-like wings, Lament flew away from her battle with G-Force.
Weaknesses
Lament was stunned after being dropkicked in the face by Jet Jaguar and punched by Braid, allowing Godzilla and G-Force to kill Yacumama. Despite labeling G-Force's attacks insignificant, Nuki was able to sever Lament's arm with relative ease, while Dr. Chiba pierced the sides of Lament's armored head with her kogai blades and trapped the kaiju in psychic flashbacks, staggering her after imbuing the kaiju with all of Jacen Braid's pain. Riviera was also able to hold up Lament's blade, albeit with great effort.
Gallery
Concept art
-
Lament concept art by Nikola Čižmešija
Godzilla
Trivia
- Lament's overall appearance recalls that of Monster X, as both are reptilian humanoid kaiju with black-and-white skeletal designs.
- Lament is the second kaiju to debut in printed media in 2025 to lose an arm and replace it with a weapon, following Volga.
References
This is a list of references for Lament. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
|
Comments
Showing 57 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
|
|
|